


Innate

by legendofthesevenstars



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: F/F, Post-Timeskip | War Phase (Fire Emblem: Three Houses), Tenderness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-20
Updated: 2020-06-20
Packaged: 2021-03-04 01:14:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,387
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24815161
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/legendofthesevenstars/pseuds/legendofthesevenstars
Summary: The day before the final battle, Lysithea comes to the greenhouse to admire the white lilies, and discusses strength with Marianne.
Relationships: Marianne von Edmund/Lysithea von Ordelia
Comments: 4
Kudos: 17





	Innate

Early summer meant the white lilies were now in bloom. Though Lysithea didn’t have any special attachment to the Goddess or to church in general, she’d always liked Saint Seiros’ favorite flowers. Visiting the greenhouse to admire them gave her a break from staying inside reading, or training at the training ground, which left her far more out of breath than when she was a student.

The greenhouse was not empty long. While she was admiring the lilies, stroking the soft petals with her fingertips, she heard someone clear their throat behind her. She turned around to see Marianne, and she felt a lump in her throat.

Though she’d got along well with most of her classmates, even the annoying ones like Lorenz and Ignatz, she’d never quite known how to deal with Marianne and her low self-esteem. Lysithea hated it when anyone even hinted at insulting her, so she had never understood how Marianne could constantly diminish herself. It wasn’t a matter of honor or pride; she just didn’t let people make fools of her.

She’d wanted Marianne to learn the same, so she’d always encouraged her inside and outside the classroom, pushing her to do her best as a fellow student of magic. With Marianne, she’d needed to be tough and blunt. Marianne had always listened to her constructive criticism, and she’d never looked down on Lysithea for her age. Not only that, she’d told Lysithea more than once how she admired her inner strength. That kind of respect had really made her happy back then, more than Marianne had ever realized.

Marianne looked down briefly, wringing her hands before meeting Lysithea’s eyes. “Um, so you like Saint Seiros’ favorite flowers?”

“Yes. They’re simply gorgeous.”

“But you don’t seem all that interested in church. I almost never saw you in the cathedral, and I still don’t see you there now.”

Lysithea shrugged. “Truthfully, I don’t really care much about church, unless I’m going with my parents. Then I’ll go, just because they want me to come along, and I want to spend as much time with them as I can.”

“Oh, I see.” Marianne continued to wring her hands. “Um, anyway, I wanted to thank you for helping tend to everyone’s injuries after last month’s battle. I think your healing magic has improved a lot.”

“You’re welcome, and thank you.”

“You’re just as strong as you were when we were students, if not stronger. I don’t know how you do it. For you it seems so effortless, but it exhausts me trying to keep up my fighting spirit.”

“It’s as exhausting for me as it is for anyone else. But I’m going to give my all for what Claude believes in.”

“I want to see that cause realized, too.” Marianne smiled, letting her hands rest at her side, steadily meeting Lysithea’s eyes, Lysithea could more clearly see the muted brown color of her eyes and the softness of her face. Her pale cheeks seemed to have a permanent pink tint.

“Um, Lysithea,” she said suddenly.

Lysithea blinked, then folded her arms loosely. “What?”

“I don’t know how to thank you, but I’m really glad you encouraged me back when we were still students. I… I needed someone to push me.”

“Well, I didn’t want to act all sorry for you because I’m sure you probably got enough of that from everyone else.” She rolled her eyes. “Honestly, why does everyone assume that someone who’s had a hard life wants, or _needs_ , to be coddled?”

“I guess showing sympathy is the normal thing to do. But sympathies always felt so empty to me, because no one really understood the way I felt.”

“Sympathy doesn’t mean anything without understanding what a person’s really gone through. People always made fun of me for studying so hard. They told me I was a prodigy. But it was all hard work. Sure, I asked other students and the Professor for help when I needed it. But when I didn’t, I kept going on my own.”

“Was there a reason? That you wanted to study so hard?”

Lysithea sighed. “It’s because I don’t have much time in the first place. I have two Crests, so my lifespan is drastically shortened.”

“Because of your Crests…”

“And you never asked for your Crest, either.” Lysithea remembered well their venture into the woods to fight the Wandering Beast, and how Marianne had returned with the twisted, fanged blade in hand.

Marianne flinched, but just as quickly, her shoulders relaxed slightly. “You’re right. I never asked for such a burden.”

“But having that burden doesn’t mean you have to give up right away, and see, you haven’t.” Lysithea unfolded her arms, placing one on her hip and turning to the lilies. “Seiros didn’t give up on finding Nemesis in the War of Heroes and making history of him, you know. We’re close to the end, and we won’t give up either.”

She looked at the lilies, breathing out a silent sigh through her nose. Saint Seiros’ Crest hadn’t caused her distress. She hadn’t died because of her Crest. She hadn’t felt like a curse because of her Crest.

“You know,” Marianne said, her voice softening a little as she walked over to the lilies, just under an arm’s length away from Lysithea, “I used to like these because they were Saint Seiros’ flowers, but now they remind me of you.”

“Huh?”

Marianne rubbed the petals between her fingers, just as Lysithea had done. “The flowers appear soft and delicate on the outside, but lilies are very hardy, and they come back year after year.”

“Yes, they’re resilient.” Lysithea’s heart was pounding in her throat. She watched as Marianne picked one of the lilies, lifting it to place it between Lysithea’s ear and her white hair, tucking both the lily and some stray hairs behind her ear. Lysithea’s skin tingled when Marianne’s fingertips brushed her skin, trailing from her temple to the curve of her earlobe to the base of her jaw.

“And they’re very beautiful,” Marianne whispered, slowly returning her hand to her side.

“Hold on!” Lysithea sputtered, grabbing Marianne’s hand before it had completed its journey.

“Wh—What?” Marianne’s face flushed.

“Don’t you need to put one on the other side so I look more like Saint Seiros?”

“Of course,” Marianne stuttered. Her blush didn’t fade.

She reached for another flower, picked it, and tucked Lysithea’s hair behind her ear again. Though it wasn’t a surprise like the first time, Lysithea still felt the electric jolt along her skin when Marianne’s fingertips brushed it. She grabbed Marianne’s hand again, more gently this time, and held it in place, Marianne’s palm cupping her cheek.

“I think you’re strong and resilient, too,” she said, and turned her face inward to kiss the heel of Marianne’s hand.

“Lysithea,” Marianne breathed, holding her other hand over her mouth. Her blush betrayed the weak curtain of her fingertips.

“Anyway, we probably need to prepare for the final battle.” Lysithea removed her hand from Marianne’s and stepped back as Marianne withdrew her own hand. She put her hands on her elbows and bit her tongue, suddenly feeling shy. What had made her do that? She couldn’t just kiss Marianne’s hand like that!

Marianne mashed her lips together. “Um, then I should probably tend to Dorte before dinner, so I’ll see you then!” She started to rush out of the greenhouse.

“Wait!” Lysithea called after her.

Marianne turned around, fists clenched at her sides.

“Do you want some pastries I bought at the market this morning? I have leftovers and I can bring them to dinner. If you would be interested.”

Marianne blinked, still startled, then quickly gathered herself. “Yes. Of course. Sure, I would like that.”

“Great. I’ll see you then.”

“All right. Goodbye.”

Just as Lysithea was about to return to the lilies, Marianne turned back around in the doorway and called, “Lysithea?”

“Yes?” She faced Marianne again.

“Take care of yourself.”

Out of habit, she winced at the words. But her shoulders relaxed when she saw the fondness in Marianne’s eyes that made something inside her feel like it was glowing. It wasn’t Crest shakiness; this was a different flock of butterflies altogether.

“You, too,” she offered, watching the blue dress swish and disappear from the greenhouse doorway.


End file.
